Many people come to Hot Yoga in Sydney to lose weight, gain flexibility or increase strength. But this is like going on a holiday just to be in the photos.
You know those moments lying down at the end of a Yoga class, relaxing in Savasana, when a beautiful feeling of peace and harmony comes over you? You might feel a tingling in your fingertips, or a slight awareness of the skin all over your body; it feels alive with electricity, pulsating ever so slightly. You might feel a sense of calm, an inner knowledge that everything is ok
What if that feeling could last all day? Enter Ashtanga Yoga.
In Ashtanga Yoga, we make the whole practise a moving meditation. By training the mind at the same time as the body, those feelings of bliss grow from just fleeting moments in Savasana to a sensation that lasts the entire session. If we give these feelings space, and are aware of them throughout our practise, we can learn to be in touch with that bliss in our everyday lives.
Take away the sweltering heat of Bikram Yoga, and your mind can focus on the breath. In fact, each and every movement in Ashtanga Yoga is perfectly timed with either an inhale or an exhale. The heat is generated from the inside. There’s no external thermostat heating up your body; instead, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teaches you yogic techniques to control your own thermostat with your breath and movement.
In Ashtanga Yoga, we look inward, not outward, because the real magic is going on inside.
As we get in touch with our body and our breath, we are able to still the mind enough to bear witness to our own thoughts. We cultivate an awareness of how we are thinking, feeling, and reacting. By practicing this on the Yoga mat, it becomes second nature, and we begin to see it in our interactions with the world around us.
We come to know and understand ourselves, to be at one with ourselves. Over time we bear witness to our own evolution.
With the Ashtanga Yoga practice, your body becomes thinner, stronger and more flexible. But, a thin, strong and more flexible body is merely a by-product of the practice, not the aim. The beautiful sensations of incredible energy, peace and harmony all day are the sole aim.
This is Ashtanga Yoga.